And we played on -- for 36 holes

Thursday

My weekly golf outing turned into a golf marathon, thanks to my big brother's passion for the game and the great deal we received at Deer Pass Golf Course in Medina.

My regular playing partner skipped out on me this week, leaving me to fend for myself. He was invited to play at Fire-stone, a course neither of us belongs on. But that's a different story.

Left on my own to fill my regular golf slot, I called my brother up north and asked if he'd be interested in meeting to play somewhere in the middle of Millersburg and Cleveland. I had driven by Deer Pass on most of my trips to Cleveland and have always wanted to check it out.

When I got there and saw the sign "$18 for unlimited golf," I was quite pleased we picked this place to play.

After slicing my first shot into the water and winding up with a triple bogey on each of the first two holes, and watching my big brother drain par putts on both, I was thinking I was in for a long afternoon. But a 20-foot birdie putt on the third hole helped ease some of the pain and the rest of the round went pretty well.

My brother always whines about feeling sad at the 18th hole because our round is coming to a close. I reminded him that we had unlimited access to the course and were welcome to play another nine if he so desired. He did, so off we went for another nine holes.

Instead of triple bogeys like I did the first time, I got a par and a bogey, which made me quite glad we decided to play on.

On the hole I birdied the first time, my birdie putt lipped out leaving me a tap in for par. Another par on the next hole and I was ecstatic. My brother's game was going the other direction (I had youth on my side). By the time we came to the 27th hole, I was feeling invincible. So I asked if he wanted to go another nine. We had finished our first 27 holes in about four-and-a half hours, so we had plenty of time.

So, off we went.

Our pace slowed considerably by the time we reached No. 17 the second time around, and by the 18th, we were both whipped, but it was a lot of fun. And we still were done in about six hours. I hadn't played that many holes in a day since I used to play in the 100-holes-a-day fundraiser for the American Cancer Society at Fire Ridge about 20 years ago!

Amazingly, my body didn't hurt nearly as much as I anticipated come Thursday morning... until after heading out and playing racquetball; that left me sore in many other areas, including my ego. Now I know how my brother felt after I finished with him on the golf course.

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